Inside Conditions…$50 million chattel

“From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement Black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. (New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, author ‘Forty Million Dollar Slaves’)As I viewed the latest smash hit, “The Bible,” a myriad of sports and social issues danced around in my head, one of those being slavery. Hollywood depicts the inhumanity of forced servitude as almost being “noble.” As far as Black athletes are concerned they will probably never understand their true value because it will never be revealed to them. As far as I am concerned the NFL compensation process is biased, corrupt and flawed as it relates to Black athletes. There is nothing noble about it.